How Gifting Has Changed

How Gifting Has Changed

Derived from…
Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable
Previously
The Renaissance of the Gift Culture

RAP6 : Your Gifts (2)

To Give
Giving gifts was traditionally seen as an expression of power.
‘You must be powerful if you can afford to give things away.’
And, in a tribal culture giving was an important part of enabling others to flourish.
Gifting is returning in importance in the digital economy because it is so much cheaper to be generous with your gift and let your ideas spread.

To Get
A couple of centuries ago, money and structured society flipped the tradition of giving.
Rather than give a gift, it became a sign of power to receive.
To receive gifts meant ‘you must be important’ because people would only give gifts to gain your trust and favour.

To Give and Get
To Give and Get is not a true gift.
This is a trade or an exchange.
This has become the basis for the capitalist system.
I get your product if I give you enough money in return.
Reciprocity is a form of give and get, it’s an expectation that if I give you something now I will get something back later.